w30Virgo Round 4 January 2021 - Reintroduction Tracking

[w30virgo]

I finished my fourth round of Whole30 on 1/31/2021, and I'm determined to do a proper(ish) reintroduction this time around. My fiance did this round with me as well - we got engaged in January and are committed to improving our health together, especially as we continue to stay at home during the pandemic. Here's a summary of my victories, both scale and otherwise.

Weight: Down 7.5 lb 

Mental Health/Emotions: Haven't felt markedly depressed at all in the past month. My anxiety has ebbed and flowed, but eating Whole30, in combination with taking broad spectrum CBD oil before bed, has led to a definite decrease in generalized anxiety. Now, I will sometimes get anxious about specific topics or events, but I'm able to self-soothe and the feelings don't linger. Executive dysfunction has definitely improved - most days, I'm able to move through my to-do list without much effort or energy depletion. I'm still seeing about one day each week where I struggle with getting even basic tasks done. Even those days have improved over time, though. I won't get as much done, but I'll still get some of my most important priorities completed.

Energy: More sustained throughout the day and consistent in the mornings without caffeine. I stay energized and motivated to complete tasks and do activities throughout the evening, until I wind down for bed around 8 PM. Previously, I had been basically useless after work, unless I exerted a herculean effort to make dinner. Now, it feels easy to keep my day going after work ends.

Focus: Haven't seen much improvement here. It's been easier to put habits into action that I know help - limiting screen time, optimizing my schedule for work and other life tasks. However, it's still basically impossible to concentrate on things I'm not interested in.

Digestion: I have less stomach pains and gas on a regular basis. I had about a week and half period in the middle of this round where I felt nauseous all day and could barely eat, but I'm back to a more normal appetite for me. I recently switched to a different probiotic, which I feel has affected my digestion for the past week or so. I'd like to revisit and see where I'm at later this month, once I've adjusted to the new probiotic.

Allergies: Before this round of Whole30, I had been taking medicine for what I thought were seasonal allergies everyday (generic Flonase). I stopped taking it during Whole30, to see how I felt, and have only had one day where I felt that I needed it. We also started using a humidifier at night, and got an air purifier for our apartment, this month, which I think has also helped with my symptoms.

Skin: I didn't see much improvement until the last three days or so. Now, my skin is looking great - fuller, more of a glow, more youthful. I have some healing acne, but haven't really seen new pimples developing. With my increased energy and decrease in executive dysfunction, I've been much better with completing my skincare routine every morning and every night, and have even added some new steps, which I'm sure is helping as well as my diet changes.

Libido: Mine has definitely improved, and my fiance has even explicitly remarked on how much his has increased this month.

Sleep:  In past rounds, this has been a definite improvement that I saw - hugely improved sleep quality. Sadly, I didn't see much improvement in this during this round. During the pandemic, I've started using CBD to help my sleep and anxiety - I was struggling to sleep through the night, an issue I never had in the past. I stopped using CBD this month, to see how Whole30 helped with my sleep and anxiety. My sleep was okay at first, but then, the same time that I had issues with my appetite, I found myself awake for several hours in the middle of the night, or waking up at 3 AM, unable to fall back asleep for the whole day. So, I started using CBD again, which helped - almost immediately. I'm still struggling with waking up in the night - not sure if it's because it's been so cold lately, or what - but, I've gotten much better at falling back asleep if I do wake up.

Exercise: One of my new year's resolutions was to increase my daily walk from 45 to 50 minutes each day. I've been pretty good with accomplishing this most days - 50 minutes vs. 45 minutes doesn't feel like much of a difference, and I'm more energized and walk faster during my walks than I had normally been before Whole30. I've also been more motivated with doing yoga daily - I did yoga 15 days out of the last month. My fiance got a set of resistance bands for Christmas, and we've decided we're going to start doing workouts with those 3 days a week as well. We did a 25 minute upper body workout yesterday - I'm feeling a bit sore, but it was fun and felt good.